[EasyRider]

I don’t know much about cars, but I think we’d have to define “fail” in both contexts.

Subjectively, for me, a BB bearing fails when the crank doesn’t spin or the knocking is so much as to interfere with pedaling. Minor pitting of the races, or a bit of grittiness or noisiness would annoy me, but I wouldn’t consider it failure, even if it does mean it’s time for servicing or replacement. Perhaps car wheel bearings suffer from these same ailments but it doesn’t justify replacing them, since a driver wouldn’t notice them the way a cyclist would.

[EasyRider]

Fenders may be another reason I get years of service from my cheap square taper BBs, and for that matter, my chains and cassettes. All of my bikes, running tires from 28mm to 52mm, have fenders. Several years ago I zip-tied a strip of rubber stair tread mat to the front fender my commuter. After a messy commute, one glance at the DIY extension shows that it really does block a lot of salt, sand and grime from spraying the drivetrain.

[EasyRider]

I rode a Varsity fixed for a year and repacked the bearings monthly. The grease, it’d just disappear!

[EasyRider]

@huskerdont 147134 wrote:

Interesting the problems some seem to have consistently. I’ve never really needed to replace a bottom bracket on a road bike.

I’ve never had to replace a bottom bracket because of wear, either, though with a daily 15 mile commute, 3 of which are towing a child trailer — I think I should expect to. What model BB are you using? I’ve only ever used square taper units, either adjustable or sealed. Antiquated sure, but set up right the first time, in my experience, adjustable units are durable.

My daily rider is a old Trek 950 that I bought on CL 5 years ago for $50. It was clearly neglected, but the original adjustable BB and crank are doing just fine after 26 years! I figured let sleeping dogs lie and I’ll replace it when it gets noisy. Not yet. It continues to surprise me. I’ve used the same sealed shimano square taper unit since 2006 on my fixed gear/singlespeed/rain bike. I stopped riding it daily when my commute got longer and I bought the 950, but it’s got plenty of miles on it and was installed 10 years ago. In both cases I’d have thought the grease would’ve turned to gunk by now, and maybe it has. But they feel fine and don’t make noise.

[EasyRider]

Agree … but also a question of how much free time one has to do the work themselves, and how much one values it.

[EasyRider]

A chain wear indicator costs $10. It’s not a precision instrument, but it beats guessing if your chain is so worn that it has also worn the cassette to the point that a new chain won’t mesh properly. I think it’s worth having one even if you’re not doing your own maintenance because it’ll tell you when it’s time to visit the shop.

Try using a chain wear indicator for a year, making a note of each time you changed the chain. That’ll give you a sense of how often you should change the chain based on your riding, rather than particular number of miles.

A cassette should last for several chains if those chains are changed in a timely fashion.

[EasyRider]

I guess, but as dbb said, “it will be more work than the average grab and dash thief wants to invest.” They’ve already committed a felony just by being there, so they have an incentive to move extra fast.

[EasyRider]

I would think that if it’s a worn cog not meshing properly with a new chain, it’d be noisy all the time, and not just when you are out of the saddle, but I second huskerdont’s advice. Even if the free solutions (easing up on the chain tension, checking wheel alignment) solve the problem, buy a new cog. A brand-new cog is a delight to hold.

[EasyRider]

This got me thinking about chain wear and fixed gear. It’s been a few years since I rode a fixed gear, but as I said, my memory is that I would periodically bump the wheel back to maintain chain tension. But thinking about it, my understanding of chain wear/stretch is too vague to know if chain wear would actually result in less chain tension on a fixed gear bike that could remedied by moving the wheel back. In other words, perhaps I’m full of it?

Still, it sounds like your chain is just a hair too tight.

[EasyRider]

@americancyclo 146825 wrote:

but when I stand up on the pedals, it gets loud and grindy.

I agree with others about chain tension. My guess is that the frame is flexing a tiny bit when you stand on the pedals, increasing the chain tension. To account for it, I’d just need to move the rear wheel forward in the dropout a tiny bit, taking care to make sure it is centered. Did you remove the wheel when you replaced the chain? I’d also check to see if the chainring bolts needed a quarter turn. Your rear cog doesn’t look worn out to me.

Back when my commute was shorter and flatter, as my fixed gear’s chain would wear, I’d bump the wheel back once or twice by a fraction of an inch to maintain chain tension, before finally replacing it. Sounds like you maybe just need to do the opposite, since it’s a new chain.

[EasyRider]

Sorry, I overlooked that you wrote your husband doesn’t “trust” ceiling mounts. Without knowing why, just wanted to mention the weight ratings on these things. The cheapo hooks are rated for 25 pounds each; I think that’s conservative and 2 hooks would hold more weight. A certain large online merchant sells hooks that are rated for 60lbs each and 100lbs each, for barely more $, but the threaded screw end isn’t any longer. So my guess the rating refers to the point at which hook will bend or straighten, not when the pointy end will pull free from the wood it’s screwed approximately 2 inches into.

FWIW, all three of my bikes weigh more than 25 pounds and none of the cheapo hooks holding them up has budged in 4 years of continuous use.

[EasyRider]

If you’re not parking cars in your garage, another option is hang bikes from hooks in the garage ceiling. Even if you are, you can usually fit a couple in the back, so that they are suspended over the car’s hood when the garage door is closed. Putting the bikes on the ceiling frees up floor space for lawnmowers, tool boxes, kids toys, etc.

Oversize hooks are a buck or two from Home Depot; one end is a large wood screw that takes a 1/4″ pilot hole, IIRC. If rafters or studs are few and far between, you can add crossmembers and screw the hooks into those. You can squeeze a lot of bikes close together if you hang them so that one bike’s handlebars are beside the next bike’s rear wheel. You might need to take down one or more bikes to reach one further back, but it’s a small nuisance.

Garages and sheds are usually filled with the tools a thief needs to break any bicycle lock, but it never hurts to run a cable through the frames and around a heavy or immovable object like a workbench, and to lock the rear wheel to the frame with a U-lock.

[EasyRider]

Here’s one, in the lower left of the frame. The Pike has been repaved here, but this hole remains.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12504[/ATTACH]

[EasyRider]

@Tania 146694 wrote:

That’s precisely the route advised by google maps!

Yes, it’s my daily commute. I’ve tried to improve upon it but can’t. Turning left on Orme makes sense because the Wash. Blvd. underpass is at the bottom of a hill. It’s a modest one, but unless you hit all the lights just so and are really hammering it, car traffic will easily overtake you if you continue straight on Columbia Pike and don’t turn left onto Orme or one of the side streets. Plus, Southgate is a straigtaway and steeper downhill with very little traffic even during rush hour. It’s fun to zoom down it.

I’m serious about those holes in the Pike though. There’s definitely one or two in the middle of left lane, maybe halfway between S. Courthouse and Wash. Blvd. You don’t want to hit one of them in the dark.

[EasyRider]

The fastest, and I think safest way is to go straight east on Columbia Pike, then turn left at the first light onto S. Orme (the Sheraton is on the corner.) That dead ends at the Ft. Myer Gate, turn right onto Southgate and bomb down the hill, with the Air Force Memorial on your right. Go straight throuh the traffic light at the bottom of the hill onto Joyce and take it under 395. You can take it from there.

I would be careful going down Columbia Pike in the dark. There is still likely to be some traffic, and there are a couple of exposed gas cap (I think) holes in the middle of the lanes which could throw you. I would take the sidewalk to be safe, starting at South Courthouse Road.

[Author]

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